Mechanics often encounter non-planar surfaces that are often cumbersome, difficult or impossible to treat using conventional tools having flat, planar working surfaces. For example, curved surfaces requiring sanding, for instance, automobile body panels or curved residential archways, are often difficult to sand with conventional flat sanders or “long board” sanders. Similarly, applying materials, for example, adhesives or joint compounds, to curved surfaces is also cumbersome using conventional tools having flat, planar working surfaces, such as trowels and floats. The flat, typically rigid, surfaces provided by conventional tools simply do not conform to curvilinear surfaces and sanding to the desired shapes or spreading materials uniformly upon these surfaces is typically difficult and time consuming.
Thus, a need exists for tools having a curved working surface and methods for using these tools that address the limitations of the existing art. As will be discussed below, aspects of the present invention provide these tools and methods and markedly improve the ease and effectiveness with which curved surfaces can be treated, for example, by sanding and material application.